A strong digital marketing team can increase online visibility, build brand recognition and drive company growth. However, hiring and managing a successful team can be challenging for SMBs with limited time, budget and expertise.
The right hiring knowledge helps SMBs attract top talent and fill skill gaps.
In this article, you’ll learn the nine essential digital marketing team roles, when to hire them and how to build a marketing team that delivers measurable results.
Key takeaways from digital marketing teams
An effective digital marketing team helps SMBs reach their audience, boost brand visibility and drive growth.
Hiring a digital marketing team involves identifying essential roles, mapping the skills each requires and clearly defining responsibilities.
SMBs often struggle with limited time and resources, but a clear hiring structure makes building a strong team easier.
A CRM like Pipedrive streamlines hiring, manages workflows and tracks performance – start your free 14-day trial to build a marketing team that achieves your business goals.
9 key roles in an SMB digital marketing team
Understanding digital marketing roles helps SMBs determine which positions to hire for an efficient team that drives business growth.
With the right skills, an effective marketing team can expand reach, increase brand awareness and generate consistent business results.
To help you structure your marketing teams effectively, here’s an outline of the nine essential digital marketing roles.
Note: These roles cover the essential skills SMBs and startups need to plan, execute and measure campaigns. Larger organizations may include specialized in-house positions, such as chief marketing officers (CMOs), account managers, CRM managers or marketing automation specialists).
1. Digital marketing manager
A digital marketing manager acts as a bridge between leadership and the marketing team, ensuring that initiatives align with business goals and generate measurable impact.
Key responsibilities include:
Creating and implementing marketing strategies
Managing the marketing team or wider marketing department
Identifying the right target audience for the business
Managing budgets and marketing spend
Setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and measuring performance marketing
Aligning messaging with brand and business goals
Here are the skills to look for:
Create long-term marketing plans that align with business goals and anticipate market trends | |
Inspire and motivate the team, set a clear vision and drive everyone toward shared objectives | |
Team management | Delegate tasks, mentor staff and collaborate with team members to ensure an efficient workflow |
Organize campaigns, keep tasks on schedule (and within budget) and balance multiple initiatives | |
Data-driven decision making | Analyze metrics, identify opportunities and optimize campaigns to maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing efforts |
Communication skills | Convey strategies, provide constructive feedback and ensure alignment across the team and with other departments |
When to hire a digital marketing manager: Hire a digital marketing manager when you need a strategic leader to align marketing operations, manage your marketing team and drive measurable sales results.
2. Content writer or copywriter
A content writer shapes how your business communicates online, creating written content that attracts, engages, converts and retains customers.
Here are their key roles and responsibilities:
Creating engaging content
Optimizing content for reach and impact
Maintaining brand voice and messaging
Here are the key skills to look for:
Writing and storytelling | Craft compelling, clear and persuasive content for different channels |
Search engine optimization (SEO) knowledge | Understand how to optimize content for search engines to improve visibility |
Creativity | Generate fresh ideas and concepts that resonate with your audience |
Attention to detail | Edit and polish content to maintain quality and brand consistency |
When to hire a content writer or copywriter: Hire a content writer when your business needs consistent, high-quality content to support marketing campaigns, engage your audience and communicate your value clearly.
3. SEO specialist
An SEO specialist improves your website performance on search engines, helping attract the right audience.
Here’s a breakdown of an SEO specialist’s key responsibilities:
Optimizing website content and structure
Monitoring and analyzing performance
Staying up-to-date with SEO best practices
If this is a role you want to fill, here are the skills to look for when hiring:
Keyword research | Identify terms and phrases your audience uses to find products or services |
On-page and technical SEO | Optimize content, structure and website elements for search engines. Identify and fix issues that hinder SEO performance |
Analytics and reporting | Track performance, interpret data and adjust SEO strategies for the best results |
When to hire an SEO specialist: Hire an SEO expert when your business wants to improve online visibility, attract more organic qualified leads and optimize website performance for search engines.
4. Social media manager
A social media manager builds and maintains your brand’s presence across social platforms, helping you connect with your audience, engage followers and support marketing objectives.
Here are the key responsibilities of a social media manager:
Managing social platforms
Planning and creating social content
Engaging with followers and community management
Tracking and analyzing campaign performance metrics
A good social media manager should have the following skills:
Platform expertise | Understand major social networks and trends to reach and engage your audience effectively |
Content creation | Craft engaging posts and visuals that capture attention and communicate your brand |
Community management. | Interact with followers and manage conversations to build a positive brand presence |
Reporting and analytics | Track metrics, interpret results and adjust strategies to improve performance |
When to hire a social media manager: Hire a social media manager when your business needs consistent social content, active community engagement and data-driven optimization of your social platforms.
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The company replaced Google Sheets with automated workflows and real-time insights that gave full visibility into candidate progress. As a result, recruitment grew by 300% in eight months and the recruitment team saved three hours a week.
5. Paid media (or pay-per-click) specialist
A paid media or pay-per-click (PPC) specialist manages digital advertising campaigns to help your business reach the right audience, generate leads and boost sales.
This specialist plans, launches and optimizes ads across platforms like Google Ads, Facebook and LinkedIn, ensuring your business uses every advertising dollar effectively.
Key responsibilities include:
Planning and launching paid campaigns
Monitoring and optimizing ad performance
Managing ad budgets
Reporting and providing insights
When hiring a PPC specialist, look for these key skills:
Platform expertise | A deep knowledge of Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads and other paid digital marketing channels |
Analytics and optimization | Ability to track performance, test variations and improve ROI |
Audience targeting | Identify and reach the right customers effectively |
Copywriting and creative collaboration | Create compelling ads in coordination with designers |
Budget management | Allocate ad spend efficiently for maximum impact |
When to hire a paid media or PPC specialist: Consider hiring a paid media manager when you want to generate leads and reach a wider audience through ad campaigns.
6. Email marketing specialist
An email marketing specialist helps your business maintain direct, personalized communication with your audience to nurture leads, engage customers and drive conversion rates.
Their job covers the following marketing activities:
Designing and executing email campaigns
Segmenting audiences and personalizing messages
Tracking and analyzing performance
Download your guide to managing teams and scaling sales
Here are some of the key skills to look for when hiring an email marketer:
Copywriting and storytelling | Craft clear, compelling messages that capture attention and drive recipients to take action. |
Automation and segmentation | Set up workflows, personalize campaigns and target the right audience at the right time |
Track open rates, click-throughs, conversions and other metrics to measure performance and optimize campaigns | |
Attention to detail | Ensure emails are accurate, visually appealing, error-free and consistent with your brand voice |
When to hire an email marketing specialist: Hire an email specialist when your business wants to build stronger relationships with customers and improve engagement through email marketing campaigns.
7. Graphic designer
A graphic designer creates digital assets (such as banners, images for social media and infographics) to support marketing campaigns.
This person ensures your messaging is clear and on-brand, helping your business capture attention, communicate customer value and engage your audience across all channels.
Their job covers the following activities:
Designing visual assets
Collaborating with marketing teams
Maintaining brand consistency
Optimizing visuals for performance
Creating graphics for product marketing
Here are some of the key skills to look for when hiring a graphic designer:
Design proficiency | Mastery of tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Canva or Figma to create professional visuals |
Creativity | Generate original and engaging designs that capture attention and support messaging |
Brand awareness | Ensure all designs reflect your brand identity and guidelines |
Attention to detail | Produce polished, error-free visuals that maintain consistency across channels |
When to hire a graphic designer: Hire a graphic designer when your business needs visuals to support campaigns, strengthen your identity and engage your audience..
8. Marketing analyst
A marketing analyst (or data analyst) tracks, analyzes and reports on campaign performance, website analytics and ROI to guide your digital marketing strategy.
The job covers the following activities:
Tracking and analyzing marketing metrics
Guiding digital strategy
Ensuring data accuracy
Here are the skills to look for when hiring a marketing analyst:
Interpret complex data sets to uncover actionable insights that inform your marketing strategy | |
Detailed reporting and analytics | Build clear dashboards and performance reports that help teams and stakeholders make informed decisions |
Marketing knowledge | Understand campaign metrics, KPIs and how digital channels drive results |
Spot trends, gaps and opportunities to optimize campaigns and improve ROI |
When to hire a marketing analyst: Hire an analyst when your business wants to track performance, understand customer behavior and make data-driven marketing decisions.
9. Web developer
A web developer specialist maintains your website, landing pages and marketing integrations to ensure everything runs smoothly and supports your digital marketing efforts.
This person is the technical backbone of your marketing team, ensuring your online presence is fast, functional, secure and optimized for the user experience (UX).
Their job covers the following activities:
Building and maintaining websites
Optimizing site performance
Managing website integrations
Implementing tracking and analytics
Troubleshooting and technical support
Here are the skills to look for when hiring a web developer:
Technical proficiency | Knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript and content management systems (CMS) like WordPress or Webflow |
Optimization skills | Ability to improve site speed, responsiveness and SEO performance |
Integration expertise | Experience connecting CRMs, automation tools and analytics platforms |
Attention to detail | Understanding of how to ensure code, design and integrations are error-free and perform as expected |
When to hire a web developer or technical specialist: Hire a web developer when your business needs a professional, high-performing website that works with all your marketing tools and data systems.
How to build a digital marketing team: tips for SMBs
Building an effective digital marketing team starts with clear goals, defined roles and structured workflows.
Follow these tips to get started.
Define your marketing goals
Clear goals guide which roles and marketing skills your team needs.
Defining your marketing goals begins by outlining what you want your marketing efforts to achieve, whether it’s brand awareness, lead generation or customer retention.
How to do it: Start with your business objectives and translate them into measurable marketing KPIs. For example, “increase website traffic by 30% in six months” or “generate 50 qualified leads per month”.
Identify essential roles
Pinpointing critical roles ensure you build an effective marketing team for your business.
To hire the right people, identify the key positions your team needs to execute your marketing strategy effectively.
How to do it: Map each goal to the skills required. For instance, if lead generation is a priority, a content marketer and an email automation specialist might be essential.
Clarify your ideal candidate profiles
Candidate profiles make hiring faster and more effective, ensuring you choose the right person for the job.
The process involves defining the specialization, experience, skills and personality traits you want for each marketing professional on your team.
How to do it: Create detailed job descriptions, including requirements for technical skills, industry experience and soft skills (like collaboration or creativity). Highlight your company culture to attract candidates that fit with your team’s values and working style.
Establish responsibilities and workflows
Clear responsibilities prevent confusion, work duplication and missed deadlines, helping a small team operate efficiently.
Outline who does what, how tasks flow between team members and which processes support collaboration.
How to do it: Use tools like project management software to assign tasks, define handoffs and schedule regular check-ins to ensure alignment.
How Pipedrive helps SMBs hire, organize and manage marketing teams
Pipedrive’s recruitment CRM streamlines the hiring process, helping SMBs identify and recruit the right marketing talent efficiently.
Here are a few ways Pipedrive helps SMBs recruit and organize marketing teams:
Automate candidate tracking. Use Pipedrive as an applicant tracking system (ATS) by creating a dedicated recruitment pipeline. Each stage represents a step in your hiring process, allowing you to monitor applications and ensure timely communication.
Centralize your candidate database. Store resumes, interview notes and feedback in one place. Centralizing this information facilitates collaboration among hiring team members.
Integrate with job boards. Post job openings to platforms like Smart Job Board (with Zapier). Use these integrations to track applications seamlessly within Pipedrive.
Create custom hiring pipelines. Organize candidates through stages like “Applied”, “Interviewing” and “Offer”. These pipelines create a clear overview of the recruitment process.
Here’s an example of a custom hiring pipeline in Pipedrive:
Here’s how one company put these strategies into practice:
Pipedrive in action: Reintech, UK-based tech recruitment company, used Pipedrive to automate its hiring workflow, eliminating manual data entry and notifications.
With Pipedrive’s workflow automation, API and integrations, the small team now manages hundreds of applications each month to seamlessly update candidates and clients.
Watch the video below for more information about how Reintech uses Pipedrive:
With Pipedrive, SMBs can build a scalable and efficient hiring process that helps them recruit the right people as efficiently as possible.
Final thoughts
Building a strong digital marketing team starts with understanding which roles support business success. Define clear responsibilities, hire strategically and use the right tools to recruit the right people for your SMB.
Pipedrive helps you streamline hiring, manage workflows and track performance in one place. Start your free 14-day trial to build a marketing team that delivers consistent results.
